LOS ANGELES – The highly anticipated announcement of Shannon Brown's participation in the NBA All-Star dunk contest came Monday morning. Brown capped his day with a team- and career-high 22 points in the Lakers' come-from-behind victory over Orlando.

In between, Brown conducted what might well have been the longest pregame interview of the season, holding court for about 20 reporters eager to hype the dunk contest. Teammate Josh Powell ambled by, saw the crowd around Brown and made eye contact with Brown to deliver a sarcastic expression that seemed to say: "Well, whoop-de-friggin'-doo for you!"

Maybe Brown also used his 44 ½-inch vertical leap and first-baseman's-mitt-sized hands to jump into a tree to save a kitty-cat on his way to Staples Center. It was that kind of day for him, and it's understandably exciting for fans to be jazzed over a player with such a high ceiling.

Here's a reality check on Brown, though. Right now, he is Kobe Bryant's backup. He played the entire fourth quarter Monday night in place of Ron Artest, with Bryant moving from guard to forward, but it's difficult to imagine the Lakers regularly sacrificing Artest's defensive presence in future fourth quarters.

There is another job that could conceivably be taken, as Derek Fisher is 35, a streaky shooter and vulnerable in some fundamental, physical ways. But Brown is not Fisher's backup, because Brown is not anywhere close to consistently doing what the Lakers can count on Fisher doing – things such as organizing the offense, limiting turnovers and executing team-defense strategies.

Fisher's backup is Jordan Farmar, and for all the hullaballoo surrounding Brown now and all the hope for Brown's future, Farmar is ultimately going to be a far more interesting story this season.

First of all, Farmar is far more likely to make or break this Lakers championship run, because he's surely going to play – and he might be needed to play really well if Fisher has more bad days than good. (Bear in mind, Fisher had some pretty bad days last postseason until morphing back into The Fisher King in the NBA Finals.)

Farmar is also playing for his Lakers life the rest of this season, which is why Phil Jackson loosened the reins on Farmar recently (after tightening them earlier this season for fear the second unit was forgetting its triangle principles) in an earnest effort to see just what's up with this kid who is so quick-footed yet so hard-headed.

"We're trying to open the floor up a little bit and speed the game," Jackson said, "but it's all responsibility – getting out there and doing the things that are beneficial to our team."

Farmar will be a free agent at season's end, and there's a reason the Lakers didn't even think too hard about offering him an extension at last season's end: Farmar still has to prove he deserves more of the Lakers' money and more control of their offense.

Farmar is not nearly as comfortable in the triangle as Fisher – and Farmar isn't as trustworthy in all those little things Fisher does for the team. Farmar is, however, knowledgeable enough that he can run things. That's why he has played a lot of entire fourth quarters in Fisher's place lately.

Brown, by contrast, is still at the point where Jackson more often has to run things for him – such as special plays to get Brown in an offensive flow – and is nowhere near ready to handle the ball dependably or orchestrate for others. One example from Monday night was Farmar immediately telling Brown – "One more, one more" – with 6:49 to play after Brown failed to make the extra pass and settled for a missed 3-point shot. Farmar also chided Brown a little later for not getting out to uncovered Rashard Lewis on a 3-pointer.

That all happened after Farmar nudged Brown when they went into the game with 2:57 left in the third quarter and the Lakers down by nine to make sure they both brought extra energy to break out of what Farmar later called a "flat" time for the Lakers. There's little doubt Farmar is a natural leader, but even there the Lakers have questions.

His attitude – he'd call it "self-assured," others might call it "know-it-all" – has rubbed teammates, coaches and fans the wrong way in the past. This is a guy who is sure he would've been a top 10 pick if he'd stayed at UCLA one more year. He dared speak after Bryant held the organization hostage with a trade demand about the need for Bryant to "play the right way." Farmar loves playing video games but doesn't play basketball video games much because he gets frustrated shooting all the time with the Jordan Farmar guy in the game who isn't as good as the real Farmar thinks he should be.

So it's understandable that – even though Fisher will be a free agent and Brown could opt out, too – Farmar might actually want to stop what he views as sacrificing himself and leave the Lakers at season's end. Even if they're his hometown team and the Lakers win another title, Farmar relishes the idea of a starting job somewhere and being a non-triangle point guard with the ball in hands all the time.

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